Beloved Former Fox Host Announces Dangerous Health Condition in Addition to MS Diagnosis That Led Her to Leave Show in June
Former Fox News senior meteorologist and “Fox & Friends” co-host Janice Dean revealed on Monday that she’s been diagnosed with meningitis.
Dean, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2005, announced her meningitis diagnosis in a post published to her various social media accounts, including on Instagram and X.
“I’ve been taking a bit of a break from social media because I was diagnosed with viral meningitis,” she wrote. “I’ve never been this sick before and it could take months to recover.”
“Grateful to all the doctors, nurses, teachers (at my kid’s school), neighbors who have helped out, friends who have checked in and my family for taking good care of me,” she added.
View this post on Instagram
Meningitis is an extremely serious condition that can be life-threatening if not treated, as noted by the Cleveland Clinic.
“Meningitis is inflammation of the three tissues that surround your brain and spinal cord, the meninges,” according to the clinic. “Your meninges normally protect your brain and spinal cord from injury. They contain nerves, blood vessels and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).”
“When your meninges become inflamed, they swell too much and put pressure on your brain and/or spinal cord,” the clinic reported.
Notable symptoms of the condition include a fever, stiff neck, sensitivity to light, headache, nausea/vomiting, confuson, fatigue, and lack of appetite.
According to People magazine, the condition “is spread through close contact with an infected person,” kind of like COVID.
Dean’s troubles with meningitis come a month after she published a post to Substack announcing that she was experiencing troubling symptoms that she suspected could have been part of a potentially serious MS flare-up.
I’ve been sick for over a week now. It started with achy painful legs and feet, exhaustion and an overall feeling of being unwell. My kids had little colds that they quickly got over, and perhaps I caught what they had, but as someone who lives with an auto-immune disease, a little bug can turn into a monster.
https://t.co/KkQ3YYNZkP
— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) October 5, 2026
“My kids had little colds that they quickly got over, and perhaps I caught what they had, but as someone who lives with an auto-immune disease, a little bug can turn into a monster,” Dean wrote in the Substack post.
This post came four months after she announced that she’d be departing Fox News, where she’d been a “Fox & Friends host,” on account of “the early morning work … affecting her health,” as reported by Fox News.
“Living with an illness, we don’t talk about this on TV, but getting up at 2:30 in the morning is a really tough thing, right?” she announced on the network during her last day on air.
“It’s tough on your body,” she added. “I did it for a long time, and I probably shouldn’t have done it as long as I did.”
She also published a video to social media talking more about her ordeal.
I know so many of you have been wondering where I’ve been. Please know I’ve read your comments, prayers and words of support and kindness. It meant the world to me.
Goodbyes are hard. But they are necessary before you can meet again…
Love,
JD ☀️
 https://t.co/S3moZdN5HN— Janice Dean (@JaniceDean) June 25, 2026
“We may look fine, but our immune system is attacking the brain, the spinal cord, and sometimes the optic nerve,” she said in the social media video. “We are left with permanent scars, but ones you can only see on MRI imaging.”
“But there’s no cure for MS, and over time, my symptoms have progressed,” she continued. “Unfortunately, lack of sleep and stress are some of the biggest triggers, and I was increasingly feeling the effects of my limitations.”
“Ultimately, my symptoms progressed to the point that I can no longer continue working in my role, and my doctors agreed that stepping away was necessary for my health,” Dean concluded.
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